"Dominica Soca"

Mr Benji N2O - Fire 2009

A super sick Bouyon track I've been into lately, which is/is like Soca from Dominica usually done by bands (I guess?). I've been happy with Trinidadian production as of late, but some of the synths these cats use are off the chain. They even cover American Hip-Hop tracks, and while not on a funk tip I can't help but think about D.C. Go Go bands doing the same(?!). Pretty fucking cool, and there's a lot of extra energy in this stuff that is hard to achieve in a studio. Mr Benji N2O is the front man of Triple Kay, one of the biggest bands from the island. This one is just crazy, like they were channeling Sun Ra and Hurricane Chris at the same time.

Inside Mi Car

KI Persad & JMC 3veni - Catch Meh Lover 2009

One of my favorite places to both listen and read about music these days is Rizzla's great sex, drugs, and Soca spot, Wasted Youth Sound System. If not for the amazing web of links to both sides of the issue of homophobia in the Caribbean, than for the fact that he shines light on a genre stuck in the dark shadow of Dancehall. I'm gonna leave all that up to him, but I'll go ahead and dive into this Chutney song about catching your woman with another woman. From what I gather this is a big tune among East Indians in Trinidad right now, and it isn't a no-batty man/woman anthem at all but a rather tongue-in-cheek pop song about lesbians. Pretty harmless, basically right between My Girl Got a Girlfriend and I Kissed a Girl but I can't say I've heard anything from the Caribbean that takes on any similar subject in such a lighthearted poppy manner. It's incredibly corny, but I dig the production. The video is a must see especially for the hilarious bubble captions, and if you were worried about KI and his girls sacred bond it all ends up being a dream in the end. His acting makes me think he was actually psyched about it though.

Sensi Addicts Only

Vybz Kartel - Weed (Gutter Riddim 2009)

I recently started paying more attention to the Riddims from the other islands in the Caribbean and this one out of Grenada is solid. Something about the down tuned xylophone with the muted dying trumpet sort of suspend things in time, like a snippet of Carnival caught in a tape loop. Vybz vibes pretty well with things, and his performance seems to be over a slightly bolder mix. Bunji Garlin's Mad Carnival is worth hearing too, but we're a few months too early for that.

Antillean Throwback Heat

DJ Prako - Lagaz Lekkerding (Kaseko remix) (from Mix-it-Up 2006)

This guys mixtapes are loaded with goodness. Everything from Chutney Reggaeton to Kawina Bubbling remixes and any other weird hybrid you could imagine. Just the kind of stuff I've been looking for. My focus lately has been on Suriname, Curacao and the rest of the Dutch Antilles lately. This track is a bit of both, a Kaseko re-edit fast forwarded a few years and with some Soca underneath. Grab some of the free mixes off Prako's site in the discography section.

Montreal Mad Again

DOWNLOAD

I think dude is a little late for the celebration but they do things differently in Canada. Contains the Wipe Out Riddim.

Stop All This Boogaloo Rudeboy!

Safi Abdullah - Afrika is Burning (from Rebel Soca 1989)

An anti-rudeboy, anti-disco, anti-freaking, anti-boogaloo earlier Soca track from this weird CD I found at the Harold Washington Library. It's not very soca and not very interesting production wise, but the hook is "Africa is burning, and the black man here is doing the freak" and provides some contrast to all the fuckin songs pouring out of the Caribbean.

I'm definitely not anti-rudeboy though.

Soul Glo Calypso

Bunji Garlin - "Put in the Thing" (from Global 2007)

Trinidad and Tobago's answer to Jamaican Dancehall, the word Soca is literally just the combination of the words soul and calypso, The difference between the lifespan of the two genres is that the early Soca (1980s) that I have is on a roots revolution Marley type tip, where as even in the 80s Dancehall was stricly for the dancehall. Fortunately for us deviants, this track by Soca superstar Bunji Garlin is an absurdly blatant anthem of sexual penetration. This track differs from most Soca I have, being a lot slower and more thumpy, yet not dubby enough for a dancehall riddim. I almost have a feeling this track might have ended up like this to appeal to the other islands in the Carribean, as there have been beefs between Soca and Dancehall/Reggae artists on the music, including Bunji and Jamaican artist I Wayne. Soca is now made all around the Caribbean but doesn't really compete with Jamaica being one of the largest music industries in the world. The "Soca Bhangra" meeting between Bunji and Punjabi Soca artist Shammi is worth hearing too, though it barely makes any sense.